WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is moving toward confirmation of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary Friday, prioritizing his vow to create a “warrior culture” in the Pentagon over allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior. behavior towards women.
With votes expected late this evening, the Republican-led Senate is determined to install Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran, and fill out top officials in President Donald Trump’s national security Cabinet. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were confirmed within days of Trump’s return to the White House.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune opened Friday’s session saying that Hegseth, as an Army National Guard veteran who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, will bring “a warrior’s perspective” to the top military job.
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“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Thune said, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that are being cut across the federal government. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on warfighting.”
The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth, despite a serious set of allegations against him, will be a measure of Trump’s political power and ability to get what he wants from the Republican Party-led Congress, and the strength of to use the culture wars to fuel his agenda. White House.
Next week, senators will face Trump’s other picks outside the Cabinet, notably including Kash Patel, a Trump ally who has published an enemies list, as director of the FBI; Tulsi Gabbard as Director of the Office of National Intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the anti-vaccine advocate at Health and Human Services.
So far, Trump’s nominees are largely on track.
Democrats, as a minority party, have little power to stop Hegesth, and have instead resorted to stalling the process.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said during the debate that few Trump nominees are “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegesth.”
Hegseth is facing allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, although he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid the woman $50,000.
More recently, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that he abused his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the accusation, and in the divorce proceedings neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be victims of domestic violence.
But Republican senators have backed Hegseth and repeated his claims of a “smear campaign” against him.
A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, Hegseth represents a newer generation of veterans who came of age in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001. He went on to a career at Fox News as a weekend show host, and has been with many on Capitol Hill unknown until Trump tapped him for the best job at Defense.
Hegseth’s comments that women should not play a role in military combat raised particular concerns on Capitol Hill, including among lawmakers who were serving themselves. He has since tempered those views in his meetings with senators during the confirmation process.
All but two Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have backed Hegseth amid an avalanche of pressure from Trump’s allies — and their own fellow GOP senators — to back Trump’s nominees, otherwise they are accused.
Murkowski said in a lengthy statement ahead of a test vote on Hegseth that his behavior is “in stark contrast” to what is expected of the military.
“I remain concerned about the message that Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation sends to women currently serving and aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.
Collins said that after a lengthy conversation with Hegseth, “I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
But one prominent Republican, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a war veteran and survivor of sexual assault, was harshly criticized for her skepticism of Hegseth and eventually announced she would support him.
“It would certainly be helpful if Republicans stood together to confirm Trump’s Cabinet,” fellow Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah posted online ahead of Friday’s vote.
Hegseth would lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million military personnel, approximately 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.
During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth dismissed the misconduct allegations one by one and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the Pentagon’s top post.
Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job if confirmed.
By exercising its advise-and-consent role over Trump’s nominees, the Senate is also trying to head off his suggestion that Republican leaders simply do away with the confirmation process altogether and allow him to appoint his Cabinet picks when Congress is in recess .
Trump floated the idea of so-called “recess agreements” during a private meeting at the White House with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson. But that’s an extreme and potentially difficult step that some Republican senators want but several other senators on both sides of the aisle are trying to avoid.
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